Fees for Lodi Lake could be on the rise

Tuesday

Jan 7, 2014 at 12:01 AM

LODI - Rental fees for Lodi Lake for fun runs and fundraisers are likely going to rise tonight, and those events could also become harder to schedule if the city of Lodi receives a much-needed grant to rebuild the lake's boat launch.

Keith Reid

LODI - Rental fees for Lodi Lake for fun runs and fundraisers are likely going to rise tonight, and those events could also become harder to schedule if the city of Lodi receives a much-needed grant to rebuild the lake's boat launch.

The Lodi Recreation Commission tonight will discuss raising the current $400 whole-park rental fee that is charged to organizations that host organized runs like the annual Womble Rumble or Health & Wellness Trix runs and get an update on a potential grant to build a new boat launch from the department of Boating and Waterways that would require the city to cease renting out the park for special events that limit access to boaters.

Lodi Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Jeff Hood said a rental fee increase is being considered, because the parks department "can no longer subsidize" the events through maintenance costs and lost revenue during peak hours, when other community members want to use the lake.

There's one way in and one way out of Lodi Lake, Hood said. Therefore, a 5k run event requires use of the whole park and prevents cars from entering.

"I'd say we lose at least $400" per event, Hood said.

Commissioners last month discussed raising the rental fee to $1,000, but they decided to delay their decision in order to give more thought about how to implement a fee increase and how much it would affect the organizations that use the park. More than doubling the fee with little notice was too much for the majority of commissioners.

Nonprofit groups that organize runs at the park still appear to be uninformed.

"My main question would be 'Why?' " said Denise Woods, president of the booster club that has organized the Womble Rumble 5k races at the lake to raise money for a new Lodi High School track.

"We pay for our own insurance, and we're very conscious of pickup," she said, adding that her group doesn't profit but is raising money to benefit the community and Lodi High students. "I'd want to know what the reasons are."

Woods said the Womble Rumble events have raised an average of $20,000 toward funding a new all-weather track at Lodi High. She said raising fees wouldn't necessarily prompt the group to move the events, but it could prompt her to look at other options if the prices are too high.

"We're pretty limited on locations in Lodi," she said.

The fee increase may be of relatively low impact, however, because the city might be forced to limit events at Lodi Lake as a condition of a $710,000 grant from the state Department of Boating and Waterways.

Hood said the grant is badly needed to pay for a new boat dock, boat ramp and a complete overhaul of the parking lot near the launch.

"That part of the park is deteriorating," Hood said. "The parking lot is a mess, the boat ramp is a mess ... and really, this (grant) is the only way we can do any meaningful work there."

If Lodi receives the grant, it will have to keep the park open to boaters who want to use the boat launch during the peak months of March through November, recreation superintendent Mike Reese said.

With events including the annual ZinFest and Fourth of July at the Lake grandfathered in, new events would be rejected.

"If somebody wants to organize an event in February when the river is down, that's OK. It's the peak hours for boating, that would be limited," Hood said.

Contact reporter Keith Reid at (209) 546-8257 or kreid@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/lodiblog and on Twitter @KReidme.